


a new normal

by donutcats



Category: Life with Derek
Genre: Gen, Modern AU, basically teen marti's pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 13:02:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4349810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutcats/pseuds/donutcats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>she doesn't dwell on what an Unreliable Narrator is and how she learned about it in English last week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a new normal

**Author's Note:**

> first story posted to ao3 + first lwd fic, can only equal good things I'm sure. 
> 
> this basically came from me rambling to my friend and wondering, "ok but what if Marti is super ok with Casey and Derek being together and the rest of the family are iffy at best" and it just turned into this thing that I'm pretty proud of.

She doesn't remember much from before the divorce, not like Derek and to a lesser extent Edwin, things are vague at best, she was too young to remember important things.

She remembers reading somewhere (probably from Casey actually) that children gain cognitive memory at age 3 and even then for a few years after that things can still be fuzzy- and ok she talks to her mom and she used to visit her every other weekend when her mom still lived in London but now she's in _Spain_ , still, and ok Marti is getting off track.

The point of this is, the only real family she really remembers is when the Venturi family turned into the Venturi-McDonald clan, and again with the whole 'being young and just getting a hang of the whole cognitive memory thing', for as long as Marti can remember it's always been Derek and Casey- Casey and Derek if you're going alphabetically (and Casey always does).

She was 6 when her dad married Nora and so at such an impressionable age (she's thinking of taking psych classes ok), she had front row seats to the disaster known as Casey and Derek, and again for sake of repetition, that's how it's always been, the two of them so tangled up in each other's lives you wonder if it's bordering on unhealthy.

So, once again getting back on track, the fact that Derek and Casey decide to announce their official _togetherness_ isn't a shock to her at all, maybe it is to the rest of the family, but if anything it finally feels _normal_ to her, like this is how it's always been and always should be.

She actually claps her hands together, once, and breathes out a slightly excited _finally_ , which causes all heads to turn to her, but she doesn't care because holy shit life has finally settled into something resembling normal and man it feels nice.

Like she gets some weird second-hand jubilation from watching Derek self-consciously catch Casey's hand, pull her just a tad closer because he's kind of freaking out, from watching Casey do the thumb-across-the-knuckles thing to Derek, like she could just vibrate out of her skin right now.

It's like some obvious, but always kept vague, fact of life has finally been pointed out, and she doesn't have to pretend anymore that she didn't just see the look they shared, or the way they oh so casually touched each other.

It's just, it's always been a thing, she can't remember a time it hasn't been a thing.

(Derek is her brother, hell she's 16 and she still calls him Smerek with no shame, and she loves how Casey's face lights up when she calls her _sister_ , but she's not stupid, she never tried to delude herself like _some_ family members, and she knows Casey and Derek have never been siblings, never will be siblings, and that's not weird, because it's what she grew up with.)

-

Marti barging into their apartment and flinging herself on the couch becomes a normal occurrence, and Derek doesn't even look away from the television, and Casey looks up from her books strewn across the kitchen table just to ask, "Are you staying for dinner?"

Because Marti and their apartment have become very close friends as of late so it's not unusual for her to stay the night (or a few).

They never really talk about it, at least not with Marti, but Casey sometimes talks _around_ the subject to Derek, vaguely wondering what might be happening at the house for her to not want to be there.

And Derek being Derek ignores the subtlety and just says, "maybe she's weirded out by them being weirded out about us and she's just done- I'd be too."

Casey doesn't agree or disagree, just makes a noise and goes back to tidying up the living room.

Again, they don't talk about it with Marti but it's kind of obvious, and that's coming from two people that are actually pretty oblivious.

One day, Marti crashes on the couch, just like every other time, except well- "uh, Smarti, what's with the bag?"

"As of this evening, I'm moving in with you both."

"Wha-"

"I would go as far to call you mom and dad but well, Nora and George haven't pushed me that far, _yet_ ,” her voice is slightly muffled, the by product of half of her face being buried in one of Casey's throw pillows.

"Mom and dad- Marti-"

"I would suggest that I could pay rent, but well, I'm a minor and I have to hope you learned _something_ from being the son of a lawyer," she doesn't give Derek time to answer, before she's turning her face from the pillow, towards him, "and that something would be that I'm pretty sure you can't charge a minor rent, so if anything, you'd be letting me live her out of the goodness of your heart, oh brother of mine."

"...who said I have a heart" as far as replies go, Derek has to admit it's not one of his best, but can you blame him, he's so rarely caught off guard.

She snorts, "I'm going to take that as a 'of course you can stay, Smarti, you're always welcome in my home, Casey will be pleased as punch to see you', we both know that's a touch south of the truth but a girl can dream,"

And then her face is fully buried in the pillow and Derek is left thinking _well_ _fuck_ _me_ and trying to think of a good way to phrase all of this when Casey inevitably comes home.

-

See, the reason Marti left is, well she thinks it’s pretty simple but nothing is really simple when it comes to their family.

Marti’s 100% ok with Derek and Casey and well, the family, they're _trying_ but Marti's sick of them trying, she wishes they would just, be fucking ok with it and move on.

She's sick of Nora's mouth thinning just a fraction whenever Derek and Casey touch, George's eyes flitting around everywhere but at the couple, and it's like, they're trying but it's not good enough for Marti, because she feels like her whole family is _tainting_ what Derek and Casey are to her, like they're trying to rationalize it and tell themselves it's ok and it makes sense and _there_ _have_ _been other_ _documented_ _cases_.

She still wants to rip off Lizzie's face when her nose twitches and her eyes narrow, she wants to punch Edwin when he coughs not so subtly to break up Derek and Casey doing the whole 'no such thing as personal space' thing, and Marti never really thought of herself as such a violent person really, but man, she just wishes they would stop making such a big deal of it, even in the smallest ways.

-

Casey tries to tell her, when Marti finally cracks and dumps all of this on them, that they _expected_ reactions like this, that they knew it wasn't going to be all open arms and acceptance from everyone.

Sure, Derek points out, Casey thought they'd get _disowned_ , cut off, but while it was such a laughable concept, they were still ready for whatever consequences.

It pulls Marti up short for a second, the way Derek picks absently at a loose thread on Casey's shirt as he says this, with complete sincerity, that _he_ was ready for whatever _consequences_ came from being with Casey, like it was her or nothing at all and just, yeah ok hopefully you can kind of understand how that's like, a monumental thing so excuse her for having to catch her breath because Derek doesn't _do_ , the whole, take responsibility for his actions thing.

Which just makes her even more ok with this, honestly, them being together, because while Nora and George couldn't get out of their own ways half the time, and Lizzie and Edwin were too busy being super snoops and going to extremes, there was Marti, noticing more than people gave her credit for, noticing how they've always managed to make each other better in a way, and this right here kind of hits it home.

-

She ends up coming to the conclusion that Nora and George don't want anything if it's not normal, or what they consider normal, which is ironic considering, well, everything to do with their lives, which causes Casey to gasp when she says this aloud because _Marti_ _you_ _know_ _that_ _isn't_ _true_.

But nah, she does, at least, she thinks it's true and she doesn't dwell on what an _Unreliable_ _Narrator_ is and how she learned about it in English last week.

All she knows is that they're fucking with her new normal and she is not a fan of that.

So, she continues to sleep on the couch, ignores all the calls from Nora and her dad, convinces Casey not to give her the phone whenever they call the landline. Derek is easier to convince, actually there's hardly any convincing, just a 'you don't wanna talk to them, so you won't' and she tries to pretend she doesn't hear when he adds 'but you're going to have to' in a voice that sounds like Derek but not, some weird overlay to it that makes him sound older (and sometimes she forgets she's not 6 and he's not 15 anymore but she ignores that too).

-

 

If you think there's an inevitable blow up somewhere down the line, well you'd be right.

It starts off with the weird tension that now comes with every family dinner they have, before Marti just snaps, her fork stabbing at her plate as she grits her teeth, "How would you like it if I made a disgusted face every time _you_ looked at your girlfriend Ed?"

All eyes snap to her as the whole table goes silent.

" _Marti_ ," Nora warns, but man she's already fired up and Casey _dragged_ her here and

"What? Are you going to tell me it's different? How? Edwin loves his girlfriend right? Whenever he gets that dopey look on his face when she's around, you coo and caw and giggle about how adorable it is that he's in love- but whenever Derek looks at Casey that way, your face screws up like you're- you're watching some horror flick!"

By now, she's pushed her plate away from her, and her hands are braced on the table,

"Don't use that tone-" George's turn to attempt at being a parent.

"What tone? I didn't know this family had such a problem with a tone called _truth_. Casey and Derek love each other and are so- so _happy_ and you just want to ruin it! You want to ruin it for me because none of you are comfortable with it!"

She didn't mean to say that, _for_ _me_ bit, but well word vomit apparently is a real thing and her eyes feel like they're burning- she's not crying, because she's a Venturi and Venturi's don't _do_ tears.

(she adds a little apostrophe next to that statement, followed by a quick little blurb of one of her early memories, when things were still fuzzy and vague, when the divorce was still a fresh thing- she can't remember if it already happened or if it was happening- and she crawled into her smerek's bed well past her bedtime because he was 13 and allowed to be sad)

"Marti, please," it's Derek's voice that makes her clamp her mouth shut, practically without thinking, and as angry as she is at him for being able to tell her what to do when her own _dad_ can't, she's also thankful because really, she'll leave the tears to Casey.

She can tell George is angry, Nora is so far off the scale of uncomfortable and Marti is _glad_ for it. Lizzie and Edwin are keeping quiet, glancing at each other and then back to their food.

George flexes his hands against the table, closing his eyes before opening them again, "I don't know where you think you get the right to say those things Marti, but I'll have you know-"

"I think Marti might, have a point," Casey's voice is thick, and yep Marti was right to leave the crying to her, because people _expected_ Casey to do tears, even tho Casey was doing an amazing job at keeping that at bay right now.

"Well I think that Marti has no idea what she's talking about. You know we support you sweetie." Nora's smile seems just a bit pinched at the corners, like she's on the edge of hysterics or, something.

"I think," Derek's turn now, and really it shouldn't strike Marti right now, the parallels of the night, how Derek's attempt at sounding like a parent sounds more convincing than the actual parent, "Marti should go upstairs, before things get said that she really shouldn't hear."

She doesn't think twice, her chair scrapes against the wooden floorboards as she pushes away and stomps up the stairs.

She thinks she should wait at the top of the stairs, stick her face through the railings and eavesdrop, but well, that was always Lizzie and Edwin's job, and right now they're in the thick of the fire as well and she's not in the mood to pick up other people's slack tonight.

-

She should point out that her bedroom is the one at the end of the hall, the one after two corners from the stairs, the farthest away, yet she still hears the arguing. Mostly muffled voices that are just raised enough, but she can't make out any words.

She doesn't think she wants to.

She knows it's mostly Derek and her dad, because while Venturi's didn't do tears, they most definitely did loud voices instead.

Later, when the voices have long quieted down, and she hears a bedroom door close and feet go up two sets of stairs, she ticks them off in her head, two down, the parents to go.

She's expecting Nora or her dad to come into her room after, when everything's said and done, she's expecting to hear the front door, but none of those things happen.

Instead, Casey comes in, closes the door quietly behind her, and starts packing some of Marti's clothes into a bag.

"So, does this mean I'm kicked out?"

Casey doesn't jump, like she was expecting, and really she should stop with the expectations, but she just shakes her head, and then realizing Marti might not have seen that in the dull light from her nightlight, Casey says, "No, I mean, I don’t know if you want to be but well- you might want to listen to what my mom and George have to say."

"Then why are you packing my things?" She still doesn't sit up, just watches from her spot on the bed.

"Well, because you've been wearing the same clothes for awhile now, and yes we have a washing machine and there's so many combinations of outfits you can pick from but well, I just thought you might want some more things- if you do decide that after you still want to stay with us." Casey states in her matter-of-fact Casey voice.

"Oh."

Casey makes a small noise, something she noticed Derek calls a 'Casey noise', and finishes packing. When she makes her way over to the bed, she leans down and kisses Marti's forehead, "If you wanted to talk to Derek first, I could-"

"No, it's ok, I have a feeling Derek did enough talking tonight,"

She catches the hint of a smile twitching at Casey's lips in the dim light, "Well you wouldn't be _wrong_ ,"

"Of course I wouldn't be."

A sigh, fingers brush aside the bangs on Marti's face, "If you do want to come back with us, just let us know, we're going home but we'll come get you right away if you text us."

"Thank you Casey,"

"Of course sweetie," Casey says, finger booping Marti's nose before she's slipping back out into the hallway, and Marti tries not to think about how differently Casey says the word _sweetie_ to how Nora says it, and she once again ignores the thought of _Unreliable_ _Narrator_.

-

She wonders how fucked up her life is, that her brother and step-sister have always been better parents to her than her actual ones.

-

She gets tired of waiting and finally climbs down the stairs, finds Nora and her dad in the kitchen, talking in hushed voices as they finish cleaning dishes.

She clears her throat, leans against the island counter, tries to seem more confident than she actually is- that's another thing Venturi's do, fake it til you make it is an unspoken motto.

They stop talking abruptly, turning towards her, George in the middle of drying a glass.

"I heard you wanted to talk to me, about the events that transpired tonight,"

Which leads to the conversation that draws into the night, explanations and apologies, on both ends.

While it ends with her giving sincere hugs to the both of them, she wonders if they'll ever be 100% ok with how their family ended up, she doubts it, but their promises to try and be better quiet down the anger inside of her.

Another Venturi thing she inherited, the tiny ball of anger that sucks up all other emotions, her dad and Edwin have it to a lesser extent, they manage to unravel the ball and turn it into humor, self deprecating or otherwise, but she's always been her brothers sister, always had that connection with Derek that she didn't have with anyone else and as she gets older she realizes why.

Because they're more alike than any other Venturi, (she wonders if she's going to fall into all consuming love like her brother, where it's either everything or nothing at all and part of her isn't sure she wants that, because while you're so wrapped up in that Everything you kind of forget all the casualties and collateral damage you leave along the way. A smaller part of her, the part that hums at the sight of them so completely in love that they would cut off the rest of the family if need be, wishes for something even a quarter of what they have.

thank god it's the smaller part.)

-

In conclusion, Marti realizes that her family isn't going to be normal, ever, but she's also not going to let certain things ruin her new normal, because she likes the new normal, she likes visiting Derek and Casey all the time, likes reading over Lizzie's thesis about endangered wildlife, likes to listen to Edwin nervously ramble on about how serious his relationship is getting, hell she's even getting used to Nora and her dad _trying_.

Even though she goes back to living with Nora and George, she does make sure, the following year, that Casey and Derek buy a house with a second bedroom that she can basically turn into Marti's Paradise Dos point Oh, because even though she's still looking into taking Psych classes and she did extensive research on Unreliable Narrators, she still believes Casey and Derek are sometimes better at being better than certain people she's supposed to call her parents.


End file.
